My big new art crush in Geraldine Girvan. So far, I’ve only seen her work in reproductions, but I aim to seek some actual works out to gawp at soon.

I love her use of bodycolour/gouache.  In the (slightly fascist) world of watercolour painting, bodycolour (aka gouache) is a bad cousin. Most watercolourists wax lyrical about the transparent properties of unadulterated watercolour. Although many do use a little Chinese white, it is not considered “pure”. However, some colours don’t read to me as transparent. I love the chalkiness of gouache, and its richness.

I find it difficult to manage an entire painting in gouache. It doesn’t seem to like being overpainted. And I like layering. I’m looking forward to the workshop “Experimenting with Gouache” that I am taking at the RWS early next month. It is taught by Wendy Jacob.

Many of my paintings include white gouache but I look forward to extending my use of gouache further. I’ll show and tell when I have something I’m not too ashamed of.